Tail-lamp for motor-vehicles.



E. W. McKINLEY 9, E. .F. GRIGSB Y.

TML LAMP FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION man 0e19, 19M.

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

8] EW. MCKINLEY EU. GRKQSBY EDWIN w: MexInLEY Am) EARL J. GBiIGSBY, orAnnon, OHIO.

TAIL-LAMP FOR MOTOiR-VEHTCLES.

weenie.

To all whom it may 0mm.- x

Be it known that we, EDWIN, W. MCKIN- LEY and EARL J. GRIesBY, citizensof the United States, residing at Akron, in the .county' of Summit andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and-useful Improvements' in.Ta'l-Lamps for- Motor-Vehicles, of V which the fo lowing. is aspecification, refer- ,ence'being had to the accompanyingdrawin s. lThisinvention relates to an improved tail lamp for motor vehicles and hasfor its primary object to provide a device of this character, includingmeans which is operable from the drivers seat, whereby another motoristvin the rear of the vehicle may be made aware of the drivers intentions,and possibility of collision, thus obviated.

It is another and more particular object of the invention to provide amotor vehicle tail lamp including a casing having a glass or lens in itsside wall, illuminating means for the interior of the casing, and arotatable drum mounted within the casing and having panels therein,certain of which bear suitable indicia, one of said panels being coloredred and normally disposed opposite the lens in the casing.

It is another important object ofv the invention to provide improvedmeans for mounting the rotatable drum within the casing, whereby thesame may be easily and quickly removed when desired, the casing for saiddrum having a hinged end wall also provided with a lens, the device as awhole being highly efficient and reliable in practical'useand capable ofmanufacture at relativelysmall cost.

With the above and other'objects in view, our invention consists in thenovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts tobe hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which,

Flgure 1 1s a slde elevatlon of a motor vehicle having plied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a vertical the lamp; f

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of .Fig. 1; I

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rotatable drum removed from the lampcasing. Referring in detail to the drawing, 5 designates the. lampcasing-- which is substantially of cylindrical form and constructed ourimproved tail lamp apsectional view through orcolumn of the motorvehicle.

Specification oiQLetters Eatent. Patented Aug. 2%, 191% Applicationfiled October 9, 1916. Serial No. 124,710.

of sheet metal. This casing,however, is pro vided with a plain verticalfront wall, indicated at 6, having suitable guides to. receive anuncolored transparent glass or lens 7-. The casing 5 is provided at oneend with a hinged wall or door 8, said. door having a central lens orbulls eye 9, preferably colored red. At this end of the vcasing, the

same is provided with an interior supportingspider 10. The opposite endwall of the casing has a bearing 11 centrally fixed therein, saidbearing being formed of copper or other good electrical conductor. I

l/Vithin the casing 5., a sheet metal drum 12 is rotatably mounted, saiddrum being provided upon its ends with'the axially projecting stubshafts or trunnions 13 and 14: respective Each of these trunnions has aconical bearing terminal and the terminal 13 of the trunnion 13 isengaged in a coniother terminal 14 of the drum is similarly mounted inone end of an adjustable screw 15 which is centrally threaded in thespider 10. The trunnion 13 is formed of a suitable non-conducting fiberfor a purpose which will be presently stated. The bearing terminal 13 ofthis shaft is in the form of a separate metallic cap.

The drum 12 has a plurality of elongated spaced openings 16 cut therein,five in number. Transparent sign or signal plates 17 are arranged overfour of these openings and a red colored signal plate 18 is arrangedover-the other opening. The plates 17 bear the words Stop, Right, Leftand Slow, respectively.

Upon the shaft or trunnion 13, a bevel gear 19 is fixed. A flexibleshaft 20 extends longitudinally beneath the vehicle body and a bevelgear 21 on the rear end of this shaft, which is suitably mounted in thewall of the casing 5, is in meshing engagement with the gear 19. Asimilar gear 22 is also fixed upon the forward end of the flexible shaftand engages the bevel gear 28 on the lower end of a rod 24: rotatablymounted in suitable bearings fixed upon the steering post The upper endof this rotatable rod has a suitable handle 25 connected thereto,movable over an indicator plate or quadrant 26. The surface of thisquadrant is suitably graduated and the lever.25 when moved to any one ofthe.

'cal seat provided in the bearing 11. The Y of the flexible shaft 20 todispose the signal plate carried by said drum, corresponding to theindication on the graduated plate 26, opposite the transparent plate 7in the wall of the casing 5. Under normal conditions, or when theoperator has no intention of turning or slowing up, the transparent redplate 18 on the drum is disposed opposite to the transparent plate 7 inthe casing wall. a

To the end wall of the drum to which-the shaft 13 is fixed, an inwardlyprojecting tubular rod 27 is suitably secured and has a lamp socket onits inner end to receive the electric light bulb 28. One of the circuitwires to said lamp is connected to the bearing 11, in which the conicalbearing member 13 is engaged and a conducting wire 29 extends along theshaft 13 and through the pipe or tube 27 to one of the contacts of thelamp socket. The otherside of the circuit is closed through the casing5, bearing frame 10, the wall of the drum 12, and sleeve 27, to theother socket contact. It will, of course, be understood that a pushbutton or other suitable switch is arranged in circuit for the lamp bulb28.

The opposite end wall of the drum 12 is of skeletonized construction orformed with a plurality of spaced openings through which the light raysare disseminated so that the lens ,9 in the end of the casing 5 isilluminated.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, the construction and manner of use of the device will beapparent. By means of our improved tail lamp, the operator withoutremoving his hands from the steering wheel, may quickly rotate the drumto the desired position so as to expose to View, through the transparentplates 7, the proper signal carried by the drum and thus indicate toanother motorist in the rear his intensions relative to the subsequentmovement of the vehicle. The possibility of collision, with consequentinjury to the occupants may thus be avoided. It will, of course, beunderstood that if desired, the license tag or plate may be suspendedfrom the bottom of the casing, or arranged at one side thereof. Theconstruction and arrangement of the several elements employed is quitesimple and it will, therefore, be manifest that the device can beconstructed and applied to an ordinary motor vehicle at relatively smallcost.

While we have shown and described the preferred construction andarrangement of the several parts, it is be understood that the same aresusceptible "of considerable modification and we therefore reserve theprivilege of resortin to all such legitimate changes as may be .airlyembodied within bearing.

the casing constituting an electrical conductor and having a conicalbearing seat, a trunnion of insulating material fixed to thecorresponding end wall of the drum, a metal terminal on said trunnionhaving a comcal portion for rotation on said seat, an elec-.

tric light bulb within the drum, and electrical connections between saidbulb, the metallic terminal of said trunnion, and said 2. A tail lampfor jvehicles including a fixed casing havlng a transparent plate in thewall thereof, a bearing fixed to one end wall of the casing, a spider inthe opposite end of said casing, an adjustable bearing mounted in saidspider, a drum having trunnions on its e posite ends rotatably engagedin said bear' lgs, .said drum being provided with a plurality of spacedtransparent signal plates, manually operable means for rotating the drumto its'predetermined position, and an electric light lamp rotatable withthe drum and disposed in coaxial relation therewith, the circuit forsaid lamp be ing closed through one of the bearings for the drum.

3. A tail lamp for vehicles including a fixed casing having atransparent plate in the wall thereof, a bearing fixed to one end wallof the casing, a spider in the opposite end of said casing, anadjustable bearing mounted in said spider, a drum having trunnions onits opposite ends rotatably engaged in said bearings, said drum beingprovided with a plurality of spaced transparent signal plates, manuallyoperable means for rotating the drum to its predetermined position,

an electric light lamp rotatable withthe drum and disposed in co-axialrelation therewith, the circuit for said lamp being closed through oneof the bearings for the drum, and a hinged door on one end of saidcasing provided with a colored lens, the corresponding end wall of thedrum having openings therein, from which the rays of the lamp bulb areadmitted upon said lens.

In testimony whereof we hereunto afiix our signatures in the presence oftwo witnesses.

EDWIN W. McKINLEY. EARL J. GRIGSBY. Witnesses;

H. B. .ARMSTRONG, C. P. RALEIGH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing} the "Commissioner of intents,

-' Washington, D. G.

